Knockdown chicken-coop.



W. H. COMPTON.

KNOGKDOWN CHICKEN COOP.

APPLIUA'IION FILED MAR.20,1911.

1,028,933. Patented June 11, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Witnesses I Inventor by Z Z Attorneys W. H. COMPTON.

KNOGKDOWN CHICKEN COOP. APPLICATION FILED MAR.20,1911.

1,028,933. Patented June 11,1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

MBIA PLANOGRAPH C D-.WASHINOI'ON, n. c. 1:,

Units STATES PATENT ornion.

WILLIAM H. COMPTON, 0F ORLEANS, INDIANA.

KNOCKDOWN CHICKEN-COOP.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 11116 11, 1912.

Application filed March 20, 1911. Serial 1101615398.

- small compass and shipped at little expense,

and which when in set up condition may be used as a nest for receiving and hatching the eggs or as a coop for the chicks during the stages of their progress in size and in their necessities and desires.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope of whatis claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a perspec tive view of this device looking from the front showing it set up ready for use, and Fig. 2 is a similar view looking a little from the rear. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal vertical section thereof. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the various parts of this device separated. Fig. 5 is a side elevation showing it in knockdown condition and bundled ready for transportation or storage.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 1 designates the roof panel and the same may, if desired, be provided with one or more cleats 2 for preventing leakage between the parts of the panel. Extending across the upper and lower ends of this roof on its under side are transverse cleats 3 against whose inner edges hook the front and the back yet to be described. On the under side of the top 1 near its sides are strips 4, each carrying two buttons 5 for a purpose to appear.

Each side is a panel made of a single piece of board 11 and has secured across its outer faceat its front and rear ends upright cleats 13 whose lower ends form legs by which this coop is supported. On its inner side near its upper inclined edge is secured a strip 14, and when all parts are in I place the buttons 5 upon the top engage beneath these two strips 14: on the sides. Secured also to the inner face of each side member is an upright guide 15, and along its lower edge a horizontal guide 16, each of said guides being composed of a pair of parallel strips or a single strip having agroove in it. The upright guides 15 are useful when the device is set up (as seen in Fig. 1) for'receiving a transverse partition 17 which may divide off the rear half of the coop so that the same may be used as a nest in which the eggs can belaid or hatched, or can be used for any other purpose desired. The rear end panel is preferably also a single piece of plank 21, whose upper end when it is in placerests just forward of the rearmost cleat 3 beneath the top. Upright cleats 23 are secured across the ends of this member 21 and have holes 24, and when the parts are in place long bolts 25 will extend through the upright cleats or legs 13 of the side panels 11, through these holes 24 in the cleats 23, and across theinner face of the rear panel 21 itself, whereby both ends and the rear "panel will be held connected and these three panels and the top which rests upon them will be held supported by the lower ends of the legs 13.

The front panel consists of a frame 31, having similar upright cleats 33 provided with holes 34 for the reception of long cross bolts 35, and in like manner the upper end of this panel is held beneath the front cleat 3 of the top; so that when all parts are assembled they are held together by and the four feet sustain the whole from the earth. The front panel also preferably has a door 35 hinged at one edge as at 36 to the frame 31, and adapted to be hooked or latched at the other edge as at 37 and in this door are upright rods 38 spaced apart a suflicient distance to permit the passage of a good sized chick but to prevent the passage of the hen. Above this door is preferably a panel covered with wire netting 39 to give ventilation to the interior of this coop. One striking feature of improvement or advantage which I claim for this coop, is the use with such a door of a door-cover or solid door 40 which may be cleated transversely on its outer or under side as at 41, and which is hinged as at 12 to the lower cross bar of the frame 31 so that when turned up and buttoned as at 13 it closes the door completely and the smallest chick cannot get out; when it is unbuttoned and let down as shown in Fig. 1 it constitutes a runway for the chicks to pass through the bars of the door and out over it or in over it; and again when the door itself is unlatched and opened for the eXit or entrance of the mother hen, this constitutes a runway, no matter how long the legs which support the device above the ground. The bottom panel is also a single piece 51, of any suitable material. Across its rear end it has secured beneath it a cleat 52 which is upturned at its rear edge into a flange 53, and a button 54 pivoted to the back panel 21 is adapted to engage this flange when the bottom 51 is pushed clear into place as seen in Fig. 3. At other times the bottom may be drawn partially out as seen in Fig. 2, and it is obvious that it then exposes a certain amount of grass to the chicks within the coop, where the latter is set upon the grass.

It is intended that the coop shall be of such size as to enable the owner to reach back over a cross partition (if one be put up as at 17 in Fig. l) and gather eggs out of the nest if the back of the coop be used as a nest, or do whatever is required. If used for hatching, the food can be placed infront of such transverse partition, and the door can be opened and the runway let down from time to time. It may be preferable to make the bottom entirely of sheet metal so that it can be withdrawn and cleaned, and even from time to time boiled. It is obviously inserted from the rear and travels within the guides 16 and beneath the upright guides 15 which are only for holding the transverse partition 17 if it is used.

What is claimed is A knockdown coop including side panels,

cleats secured to end portions thereof and extending therebelow to constitute supporting legs, end panels, means for tying the end panels and side panels together, guides upon the inner faces of the side panels and adjacent the lower edges thereof, strips secured along the upper edges of the side panels and upon the inner faces of said panels, a top panel bearing upon the upper edges of the side and end panels, transverse cleats secured to the end portions thereof and lapping the upper edges of the end panels, strips secured longitudinally along the lower face of the top panel and interposed between and abutting at their ends against the end panels, said strips lying against the inner faces of the strips upon the side panels,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

